Of Unnatural Sleep
by jazelock
Summary: Fate hates Roxas Hunter. As evidenced by Demyx leaving him stuck in an elevator for the weekend. Oh, and did he mention the little detail that Axel is also stuck with him? Yes, that Axel. Can be AkuRoku, mentions of Zemyx and NamiRoku
1. Two Hours' Traffic

I do not own Axel, Roxas, any other character or thing to do with Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, and Romeo and Juliet. Square Enix and Shakespeare own those, respectively.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, language, AU

* * *

The Shinra Electric Power Company. The world's leading generator of electricity. Without the organization, the world would be forever dark. Or so supporters claimed. Axel called it bullshit.

He was not a supporter. He worked for the company. There was a difference. He didn't cater to or kiss up anyone's ass; he was good at what he did or else he wouldn't have been kept as long as he had with all his mouthing off.

He would have quit a long time ago, marched up to that smug ruler of the world and spat in his face with a hearty flip of the middle finger, would have if not for the perpetually frowning spiky-haired ocean-eyed, eyes deeper than the ocean, brighter than mako, as soulful as the universe and the space-time continuum, distant azure light burning endlessly in the drowning depths, and, god, he was obsessed, wasn't he? He must be, to start spouting off poetic comparisons bordering dangerously on the edge of meditative. And he of the ever-burning Zippo, the man bound to die of lung cancer in a couple of years or so, one step away from being an official pyro, he was not meditative. When he stared at fire with a glazed look in his eyes, that was fanaticism, not meditation.

Meditation did your brain in and since his brain was just fine thank you very fucking much, he did not meditate. So he concluded and was damn well proud of himself for it. Now that he'd made his day, all he needed to provide a perfect climax for this chain of good events was for the elevator to hurry up so he could give his cell phone a quick juicing up. He watched the floor indicator inch its agonizing, gasping way down the floors, speed up suddenly, before dropping back to its snail pace, even slower if possible from the exertion. Come on, he needed to find out if he was supposed to meet Demyx at the bar or his house. Of all the times to not possess telepathy.

Damn the company for making such lame cell phones and dumping them on him. Axel swore that he had never, in his entire life, had a cell phone that didn't eat up an entire battery's worth of electricity in just over eight hours. Well, he did tend to put them through a bit of rough situations—but that was no excuse! You'd think with the amount of cash rolling into Shinra's pockets, they'd be able to afford supplying their hardworking employees with cell phones that did not malfunction after being put through the washing machine and dryer. Ok, and maybe smashed against a wall a few times, but that was entirely not his fault. Oh, and there was that chocobo who tried to eat it once when it dropped out of his pocket while he was on his motorbike... (and the owner had the nerve to complain about the near toasting his pet had gotten. Get a leash then, god, how hard was that?) Besides, the claim had been that the phone could undergo "extreme and harsh conditions, and still remain in pristine form". Nope, he definitely did not support his company.

And, oh, look. Here was the pathetic excuse for an elevator that would never justify its presence in the Shinra building. Actually, any building. Where it belonged was resting happily in a junkyard.

-

Roxas officially decided that the only possible way this day could get any worse and prove that someone upstairs had a serious grudge against him would be for one more electronic to metaphorically blow up in his face. Although the coffee maker had come dangerously close to literally fulfilling that. For a company dealing with electricity, their machines sure weren't ideal mascots for the business. He would have started for the stairs when the elevator shot right down, passing the floor he was waiting on, but for a strong sense of _Oh no, you don't, you piece of machinery spawn of the king of down under_. Despite the knowledge that once the elevator finally reached his floor, he would most likely have to accompany the previous caller up to whatever floor before starting on his journey downwards to the lobby, he stubbornly stayed and waited. And with his luck, the elevator would probably get stuck on the second floor. And also seeing as Luxord was supposed to be on security duty for the weekend, he would most likely stay stuck until someone decided to wander back to the office or if the gambler, by a remarkable twist of fate, himself returned. Which was about as likely as Kairi falling in love with...Rufus Shinra himself.

Someone hated his guts, he realized when the doors opened and he stormed in, bags swinging against his leg, and he swore there would be an assortment of colored bruises there tomorrow that would make a fine temporary tattoo, if he had wanted one in the first place that is, and the doors closed before he realized the other passenger had to be, of every worker in the goddamn building, Axel. _I will act mature. I will not hop off at the next floor. I'll ignore him, he'll get off, and this awful day can kiss my butt_. Axel, to Roxas's disgruntled estimation of his credit, seemed preoccupied and said not a word of sarcastic flirtation. His mood lightened slightly. It dipped down again when he inhaled and nearly choked on a lungful of noxious smoke. He gritted his teeth, hearing them squeak from the pressure he put on them, and managed not to swing his shopping bags into giving the redhead a blatant shiner. The hint of mellowness that had been creeping towards his mood vanished rapidly and gave way to full on fuming when he realized that Axel fucking Ross was quietly smoking and smirking at him with a deviousness that would have made the Cheshire Cat proud. His souring mood took a complete nosedive, complete with spiraling loop, when

the lights went off and the whirring of the elevator stopped as the car jolted and went silent. Roxas cursed.


	2. New Struck Nine

Still don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy or Romeo and Juliet. I don't even own the two OCs mentioned. What do I own? Good question...

* * *

As soon as the emergency lighting system had slowly flickered on, Roxas had chosen to situate himself as far from Axel as was spatially possible and exercise his right to a death glare every time the redhead tried to speak. Axel was fairly certain that this was not meant as a friendly sign. Maybe on some distant planet in the next galaxy over, but not on this planet. Unless Roxas was from another planet, which would explain quite a lot actually.

"Come on; don't fail me now," was Axel's mantra as he dialed one of the numbers he knew by heart. "Just give me five minutes." He ignored the muttering from the corner that sounded suspiciously and disturbingly like "I hate you, you spawn of hell", spared a brief moment to ponder that sentence, and continued in finding a rescuer to save him from being castrated, decapitated, or worse this weekend.

Three rings and Axel wondered if the siblings were running around the house trying to find the cordless phone or if they were out buying—

Reno's voice. "This is Reno--" Axel swore that he'd practically memorized the entire answering machine greeting, original as it was. He mouthed the next words along with Remi. "We're out of popcorn! Agh!" There was a pause of processing moment for the red-haired, ponytailed older brother before a disbelieving "What?! Man..." and sudden remembrance that he was being recorded took hold. "Uh, yeah, and Remi's pad. If you--" Remi's interruption in the background sounded closer this time. "We need to go buy some! Come on!"

"--need either of us, we'll be busy--"

"Shopping for popcorn, so yeah, leave a message. Reno, let's—mMF!"

A faint scuffle was heard. Then Reno's voice again. "We'll get back to you, yo. Hey! Don't you dare bite my--" Axel sighed and, just for continuity's sake, gave an exaggerated press of the lips for the machine's irritating "BEEP."

Not that he had placed much hope in Reno being able to help him out even if he had been home. What with the prank war between brother and sister, and no guarantee of either of them remembering where Reno's copy of the key to the mainframe room was. Demyx, on the other hand…

-

Zexion both found it convenient and despised that the lounge's only phone was a cordless one. So it allowed you to be mobile while conversing via the phone, but it was hell to get off its cradle with one hand. And if you happened to be mixing two drinks at the same time while trying to balance a certain someone's sitar against the counter and the phone decided to ring at that exact moment…

Trying to preserve some remnant of his chipped dignity, the indigo-haired teenager shifted his weight and trapped the precariously balanced instrument between boot and counter. Momentarily transferring both drinks to one hand, he reached—reached, not dove, never dove, not he—for the phone, yanking hard on the handset and shoving it between his shoulder and ear and redistributing the drinks evenly between his briefly free hands. He allowed a quick breath of relief before articulating a conversational "What?" as calmly as was possible into the speaker.

"Geez, aren't you polite?"

Zexion sighed again, this time in mild annoyance, and carefully resumed preparing the two drinks. "Axel."

"What the hell were you doing?"

"It's Kia's sixteenth. What do you think I'm doing?"

"Ah."

Zexion continued as if Axel had not interrupted. "Mixing guava-flavored nonalcoholic beverages, what else?"

-

Axel grinned. "So is Reno there?"

"Supposed to be. He's probably running late, unsurprisingly."

"Yeah. Hey, bet you Remi stole his motor's keys and he stole them back and forgot where he hid them after that."

"A reasonable theory and likely to be true. Did you need something?"

"Demyx there?"

"Yes—wait a second." There was a brief pause before Zexion's words filtered through the speaker again, albeit slightly indistinctly and not directed at the caller this time. "_You're welcome. Yeah, it's Axel. He wants to talk to you._" Said pyro could just barely make out Demyx's chipper and slightly giddy voice in the brief lull that followed. _Non-alcoholic drinks, my ass_. The response to whatever Demyx had just said interrupted his musing. "_Dem, no. I am not entertaining those overexcited adolescents._" A conversation free silence fell, flawed by laughs, talking, and other general party noises in the background. Axel's smirk widened as the realization sank in that Zexy was probably thawing fast under the assault of Demyx's pleading sea-green eyes.

"_Fine._" Not completely reluctant defeat in his voice. "_You're incorrigible_."

"_Not sure what that means, Zexy, but I think it explains why you love me."_ The next pause that followed had a new, barely audible element added to it. Axel mentally stored away the sound of a faint moan he was pretty sure had emitted from a certain normally stoic teenager as fodder for the future. Meanwhile, however, he was still stuck in an elevator. Mustn't forget that little complication. Ok, so Roxas's scowling presence would keep him from going bat-shit insane and make this more interesting, but the space offered no room to escape from retribution should Roxas not be amused by some of Axel's ideas stemming from boredom. "Guys? Help me now and make out later?"

He was pretty sure his request had either gone unheeded or unheard for it took another minute or so before Demyx's now breathless voice came through. The musician was definitely going to foot the phone bill for this call, puppy eyes be damned. "Hey Axel. What?"

"Do you have the key to the Shinra mainframe room?"

"Yep! Why? Are you locked in there? Now, why would you be—"

"No! I mean, it's not what you think—"

"Wow, you're defensive. Makes you look more guilty, you know."

Axel did a slow mental count to five before slowly articulating, "I am not locked in that room. I'm stuck in the elevator."

"Ooh." Demyx's knowing tone assured Axel that he really didn't want to know what thoughts were going through the older teenager's brain. An impatient clearing of the throat from Roxas caused him to roll his eyes and refocus on the task at hand. "So. Key?"

"Right! Yeah, I've got it. When do you want me to come?"

Axel tossed another glance at the severely peeved blonde slouched in the opposite corner. "Preferably before Roxas rips out my intestines." The fierce glare that transferred to him from the elevator wall told him that he was correct. However, Demyx's laugh told him that, while the information had been true, Axel had made a big mistake in conveying said fact to Demyx.

"Wait, wait! You're stuck. In an elevator. With Roxas Hunter?!" Axel sighed as the near hysterical laughter began anew. Oh, he was so screwed… "Demyx? Just get over here with the damn key? Please?"

The laughter gradually died off and yet another long pause followed as Demyx apparently mulled this over. It was either that or he was putting the finishing touches on whatever crazy plan he had worked out in the last thirty seconds and Axel was really hoping that this was not the case.

"No, I don't think so. I wanna see how far you and Roxy will go if you guys stay locked up together. Hey, it'll be like Seven Minutes in Heaven!"

"Demyx!"

"Well, more like a few days in heaven. Oh hush hush, I'll come by sooner or later and let you out. Play nice, boys!" Wild cackle of laughter.

"Demyx, damn it! I will burn your si—"

_Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo_…croaked his cell phone.

Axel, now completely stony-faced, mechanically flipped the rapidly dying cell phone shut, letting its last two seconds of existence be in peace. He was going to kill Demyx torturously and slowly.

"You suck," came the encouraging voice from the corner. Mmhm, Demyx was going to die. Meanwhile, he had a definitely entertaining and fun weekend to look forward to. The sarcasm dripped and made an invisible pool on the shifting floor.


	3. Upon the Cheek of Night

"So uhh…"

"Don't. Talk. To me."

Axel thankfully, in Roxas's mind at any rate, complied and he quickly savored the blissful moments of peace.

"Hey angel."

"Shut—"

"Did God finally get jealous and toss you down?"

"Bite me." He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Why couldn't he have retorted with any other two word-er? Well, excepting maybe "Fuck you" and "Screw you" as he could imagine the predictable rejoinder that the two would lead to.

Axel's grin would have made Jack Nicholson proud had the man been there to see it. "Only if you return the favor."

Roxas considered briefly the intelligent option of retreating back into silence before tartness welled up from his throat and formed into words on his tongue, killing the thought. "My teeth would probably shrivel up and fall out."

For once, Axel did not immediately snap back with a leer and pickup line. He paused and blinked. "Teeth don't..." he began slowly.

"My point exactly." Roxas gritted out with venom. Axel held out his hands surrender fashion. "Alright, alright. I get it. You're a sour puss." A slow grin crept onto his face. "So. Can I taste you to confirm that?"

In hindsight, Axel mused, he really should have foreseen the sudden wave of water that smacked him in the face. He spluttered, wiped frantically at his face. "I know I'm hot, but seriously."

"Do you ever quit?" Roxas's voice still had not risen much more above a hiss. The empty water bottle in his hand crinkled dangerously.

"Your father was a thief."

He was caught off guard by the sudden randomness of this reply. "What?" he trailed off slowly when he realized this was another lousy—"Don't even."

Oh, heaven forbid, the man was actually pouting now. "Talk about having a stick up your ass. You're being complimented here, Roxy." The previously missing leer appeared on the scene. "Want me to replace that st—"

"Finish that sentence and I will rip out your vocal cords." Just for emphasis, Roxas punctuated every other bitten out word with a full stop. To accompany the threat, he pitched the bottle at Axel's head. Mercifully, and maybe because he valued his throat just as it was, Axel snapped his mouth shut and swatted the incoming projectile aside.

An uneasy lull fell.

-

Roxas quietly seethed in his corner and contemplated exactly how much he wanted to kick Fate's ass right now. That, and Demyx's. Whoever Demyx was. True, he didn't know the guy, but was well aware from Axel's end of the conversation that, technically, he could be back home, ridiculing some movie on tonight with Riku, Sora, and Kairi, and also conjuring up an elaborate parody of a commentary at the same time with Naminé.

If not for that wise guy Demyx.

Ok fine, truth be told, he harbored no feelings of vengeance toward Axel. Irritation, annoyance, and plain old kickass fury for his lousy lines, but he could hardly blame any part of the present situation on him. Unless he wanted to entertain the thought that Axel had somehow fixed the generator to go off at a set time and faked the two phone calls he had managed to make, but…no, just no.

What time was it? He didn't bother to attempt a glance at his watch and draw attention to himself again. This newfound silence would last as long as it could and he wouldn't initiate its breaking.

If life had had the decency in the first place to show any vague semblance of fair play to him, he would be playing the part of Prince Charming to Naminé right now. Sharing a scorched bag of popcorn, taking the half-popped mutations of kernels (that he preferred anyways, but that was beside the point) and leaving the fluffiest ones behind. Crushing down the vile taste of guilt with a quirk of a smile when she showed him a crayon sketch of their wedding. He was going to have to tell her one day and could already imagine how that will play out. "Hey Naminé. You're great and I really like you, but I don't love you in that romantic way. I just…I'm sorry." Wow, awkward much?

But honestly, he'd never wanted to kiss her or go anywhere beyond that ever. It felt wrong when they did kiss…incestuous almost. But he did adore her, just as a sister, not ever feeling his heart beat fast over her. And he would turn on anyone that hurt her or tried to. But the only one he knew of was…crap. How would she react when he told her? Great, just great.

Why did life hate him?

"_I want to hurt you…_"

"Excuse me?" Roxas snapped abruptly back to reality and glared.

"…_just to hear you screaming my name. Don't wanna touch you, but you're under my skin…_"

The lyrics continued and Roxas, enlightened now, sank back into a slouch, Alice Cooper still ringing in the air. From earphones. He took a second longer glance at the redhead. Axel rested his head against the elevator wall, disarraying crimson spikes as he bobbed his head to the music filtering through his earphones. A rather disturbing image of the exact damage being done to the insides of Axel's ears flashed and lingered in Roxas's brain. He winced. "Would you turn that down?" he yelled. Axel remained oblivious, eyes closed, mouthing the words as they played. Roxas rolled his eyes and very reluctantly sat up before pulling himself to his feet. Mustering all the energy he had into a vicious glare, he crossed the small space and smacked a fist on the side of Axel's head. The spikes were soft, surprisingly.

Axel's eyes snapped open startled. "What?" His voice was just a bit too loud. Roxas glared. "Would you turn that down?" Axel smirked infuriatingly, eyes tracking and reading Roxas's lips, lingering a moment too long. "Aw, is the music hurting poor lil' Roxy's eardrums?" Nevertheless, he played with the music player in his hands until only the whisper of music could be heard on Roxas's part.

Roxas returned to his corner and found he had lost his train of thought. His eyes wandered and absently watched the lyrics forming on Axel's lips. The redhead caught his staring a few seconds later and winked, causing Roxas to immediately look away and pettishly pretend he had been staring at the wall the entire time. Still he had seen enough to be able to identify the murmuring of sound from the earphones.

"_Don't you wanna go for a ride, just keep your hands inside, and make the most out of life?..._"


	4. He Jests At Scars

"So. Roxas. Bored yet?"

Roxas graced Axel with a non-communicative grunt.

"Was that a 'yes' or a 'don't bug me; I'm rehearsing for my caveman role for the theater'?" Pause, two, three, four. "So, had any plans for tonight?"

"Maiming of vociferous redheads."

"Oh, ouch, you wound me. Wait. 'Vociferous'?"

* * *

"Hey, what's in the bags?"

"Don't—"

"Talk to you, yeah, I got it memorized. Geez, ever consider getting tested for antisocialism or general emoness?"

"…"

"Whoa, did you just growl?"

* * *

"Hey Rox—whoa, whoa! Alright, I get it! Silence is golden and all that crap! Now put down the bottle!"

* * *

Roxas realized that the silence may have been golden with Axel keeping his mouth shut, but that even gold got boring after a while. Not that he was going to strike up conversation, oh no.

He was bored out of his fucking mind.

* * *

This time, the reeking smoke performing an assault intended to incapacitate his nostrils pulled him out of the unresponsive state he had gradually drifted into. His dreamland—if he had indeed fallen asleep, that is—succumbed to reality and soft colors behind his eyelids gave way to harsh, obnoxious elevator lights. Oh, that was right. He was still stuck in the Shinra building, in the elevator, with Axel, who was currently fucking smoking. And just for the record of those higher powers who were set on mocking him, he was choking Roxas as well with said smoke emanating from said man's cigarette in hand and mouth.

He would later deny to himself that another honest-to-god _growl_ had rippled from his throat. (Not that it mattered as only Axel and himself could possibly have heard it and Axel still had those damn earphones plugged into his head, but it was a matter of self-image.) Still, presently, he was in no mood to acknowledge whatever sound had come out between his lips, only the fact that he was displeased.

"Do you mind?" He had wasted the control mustered to state each word relatively coolly. The knowledge that he had forgotten Axel was temporarily deaf to the world did not improve his emotional condition any. Roxas dragged himself up from the floor and suddenly realized he would have to walk into the cloud of grey he swore wafted around the redhead to confront him.

"Why do you hate me so?" He tried not to breathe as he reached forward and yanked on a scarlet tuft of hair. Axel did not open his eyes instantly, but took his time in inhaling another lungful of smoke and blowing it out, to Roxas's distaste, before pinning the blond with an unhurried, poisonous jade gaze. A hand drifted to one ear and rendered it capable of hearing the outside world again.

Roxas felt his mouth tighten. He gestured towards the cylindrical glimpse of white dangling from those blushing rose lips, forcing himself not to look as he pointed. "Do you mind? Some people actually like unpolluted air in case you didn't know that."

To Roxas's astonishment, Axel's customary smirk vanished and his eyes averted from Roxas's face. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry." He slid the cigarette from his mouth, looked at it longingly, and nearly brought it to his face to take one final drag, but instead reached up and stubbed it out in the handily present ashtray. His eyes' focus danced around Roxas, but never actually returned to him throughout all this.

Ever since he had been a tiny, clumsy toddler, he had been taught to never kick an enemy while he or she was down. This applied to any situation from the schoolyard bully clutching a bloody nose to the jerk obsessed with fire that wasn't currently acting out the jerk part anymore. In an instant where the lesson decided to hide within the recesses of his mind and not reveal itself, Roxas's lip curled. "What? Suffocation a big turn-on for you?"

Axel's eyes lifted and Roxas's breath caught. He was drowning…no, incinerating in the flickering jade of these poisonous flames. The color was never stable, he realized when eyelids sheathed the furnaces behind them momentarily before falling back again to reveal darkening orbs. The sun's rays leaving a forest and shadows swallowing live green angrily. Angrily. Oh wait.

"Ok, shut up just for one fucking minute." Axel's voice was soft and just on that edge of tight. Roxas suddenly felt the tables turn on him at a dizzying speed. He was frozen to the spot, the redhead seeming to loom over him, even if he was still standing and Axel sitting. Words flowed through his ear canal and to his brain, but the world had slowed for him and it took him several seconds to register the meaning behind the words.

"Why do you hate me so much? Hm? Ok, irritated's fine, pissed off, whatever. But what's with the murderous, almost homicidal mood? Do I look like an old leering uncle of yours with gropey hands or something?"

"What!? No!"

"My minute's not up yet, shhh…" Axel leaned closer, balancing on the line bordering 'invasion of personal space'. "So what? You freaking out because of me hitting on you? Is that it? Well, tough luck, kid. You're going to have a lot of those and not all as considerate as yours truly. So is that why you hate me though?"

Roxas swallowed several times, but his throat refused to loosen up. His mind also closed on him, unable to produce an response on the spot. He didn't _hate_ the redhead, as annoying as he was on a daily basis. Hate, hate, he didn't think he actually _hated_ anybody, anyone that he could recall anyway. Axel was right, loath as he was to concede it; why the hell did he react as if he were stung all the time around Axel?

His throat opened a miniscule amount, now enlarged to what felt like the size of a pinhole. "I…" he choked on his saliva, of all things, and he nearly gagged. "I don't…"

Axel's eyes widened briefly at the display before narrowing back into dubious scrutiny. "Right, ok. Lovely. I hear Moogles dancing in hell to celebrate that. So can we please, look, you've got me begging, heh, can we please just not kill each other this weekend? Or act normally and not like I'm a serial rapist and you're a sex toy? Keep this up and I will go bloody Tampax insane from boredom."

Roxas just stared at him. What passed for a nod, but could have been a sudden spasm of the neck, came several seconds later. Axel's eyes softened and melted into their usual amused mischievous verdigris. "Cat stole your tongue? Did I traumatize you for life?"

In the following one thousand milliseconds, Roxas determined two things. One, maybe life didn't hate him quite so badly. Two, maybe life didn't, but his body sure did, as his throat still stubbornly cowered tightly. He shook his head no; he wasn't traumatized. Almost had been, but that was not the point now, was it?

Axel chuckled. "Could have fooled me. Ok, so I, Axel Ross, hereby agree to not hit on Roxas Hunter in the elevator without his permission as long as you don't treat me like the plague. So, let's start over. Hi." He stood and lazily grasped Roxas's limp hand in his own, swinging it a bit in a lousy example of a handshake. "I'm Axel. Got it memorized? Nice to meet you. And you are?"

His throat relaxed. "R-roxas."

Axel quirked an eyebrow. "Nice to meet you, Ruh-roxas." He paused and was, no doubt, about to make a comment on that when Roxas's tongue betrayed him again.

"Bloody Tampax insane?"

The redhead blinked, startled for a second. He figured it out a moment later. Axel grinned. "Long story. But hey, you're not rushing off anywhere. So that idiot I was talking to on the phone earlier? Yeah, Demyx decided that 'bat shit' wasn't gross enough to be worthy of his cursing vocabulary. Sit down; this will get complicated…"


	5. Not By the Moon

A/N: Yes, I'm alive. I still do not own anything Square Enix. Sad, I know. Anyways, this potentially could be the long awaited (by me at any rate) last chapter. It can be taken that way. Or you can wait for the optional epilogue, read it, and then most likely slaughter me in a messy and violent mass of carnage. Onwards ho though.

* * *

Roxas wanted to kill something.

He really hadn't needed to hear details about bat guano. He really _really_ could have lived without learning about Demyx's encounters with strange items found in the trashcans of various bathrooms. With all the horrors his ears had been exposed to in the past hour, his stomach should _not _have been growling to rival Cid when some security guard under him skipped shift.

And he was bored again. After proposing their whole truce and causing all the planets to skid to a halt in their orbits in order to _prevent_ ennui, Axel had gone and fallen asleep. Well, ok, granted it was some time after one in the morning now according to his watch. But that still did not solve the problem of Roxas's rapidly declining mood. Again.

Soft rhythmic breaths, not his own, paced his thoughts. Roxas found his eyes lingering on the redhead's slumped figure or, more specifically, his face. Axel did look rather sweet asleep. Awake, he possessed an air of suspicion, both directed towards others and by them towards himself. The tracing of his eyes and jaw were sharp and angled. Asleep, his strut and smirk turned up absent and Axel became more than capable of inducing maternal instincts in those of either gender. Taut muscles released and expression softened from cocky to calm.

Regardless of the reader's pace in finishing the above paragraph, these contemplations rushed through Roxas's brain and obliterated his boredom for approximately five seconds. Left once again with nothing new to do or think about, Roxas's eyes drifted and locked onto the music player clutched loosely in Axel's lap. He stared at it for a few moments before realizing how close his gaze was to a certain part of Axel's anatomy. Roxas blushed, but his hand still darted out to tug at the small black device. It switched owners readily but Roxas was still forced into a half-crouching position in order to not pull the still humming earphones away from Axel's ears.

He nearly snorted out loud at the song title on the glowing screen. "Seriously?"

RAPE ME, the black letters retorted. The steady drum beats of Nirvana played mutedly in the background to support the claim. Roxas stared at the title, artist, album that sat as miniature letters, ran his eyes over them a second time, then found there was very little else to stare at. Tentatively, ever so gently, he pressed down on a shiny button with an arrow pointing towards the left and prayed that nothing would alter the sound. The screen dissolved into a pulsing menu. Axel stayed asleep.

Silently expressing a wry sense of gratitude that something had gone right so far, Roxas scrolled through Axel's playlist absently. It was a very long list and inevitably, the words began…to…blur…

-

Axel cracked open one eye, noted that it was too bright, and closed it again. Both eyes then immediately flew open when he realized that his shoulder should not naturally have something heavy upon it. There was a faint scent of lavender and ivory soap as well. And not that he had ever claimed to have Zexion's freakish bloodhound nose, but that smell had definitely not been present earlier.

All his questions subsided when a mess of blond strands and tufts came into view. And then a new dilemma reared its mischievous head and winked at him. He found his arm lifting to wrap around Roxas of its own accord and immediately snapped it back down. There was no guarantee that Roxas was in a slumber deep enough to not immediately awaken upon feeling an arm encircle him. And there was no way in the deepest dankest pits of hell that Axel was risking dissolving whatever sense of camaraderie they had finally built up. One seriously lacking thus far, in his opinion, but still a mile further in the right direction than it had been a day ago.

_Now that's more like it_.

-

_What's going on?_

Roxas opened his eyes and saw nothing. His vision was filled with black no matter how hard he blinked or where he looked. _Wait. Wasn't I with…_ "Axel?" he called out tentatively and his voice didn't echo, just cut out in an abrupt silence, which was somehow disturbing. "Anybody?" After that, he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to hear the lack of noise that made up the nothingness.

"Roxas?"

He turned around, startled, and stared when the same pitch black met his eyes. But he had heard… "Naminé?"

"Over here." And Roxas turned his head and nearly jumped when he saw the girl standing where he had previously been looking. "What's going on?"

She didn't seem to hear him, but merely began walking forward without replying. Her blond hair was slightly longer, brushing just against her shoulders, and the ends more ragged. Also, her white dress was unlike anything Roxas had ever seen her wear before. But, in any case, she walked towards him until he could make out the finer details of the jagged edges of her dress and the delicate fabric flowers sewn into her sandals. She walked past him a short distance, paused, and looked over her shoulder.

Roxas stepped back in bewilderment. For he had a brief glimpse of Naminé smiling sadly at him, eyes wide and blue, before her face changed, lengthened and tanned, and droplets of green coloring fell into her eyes and they were now sea green. Blond hair darkened, swept upwards into a messy gathering upon the head. She was taller, stance cockier, before she—he shrank again, hair darkening even further into an ever changing shade of dark blue, lilac, and grey, locks falling forward to obscure half of the paler face. Ice blue eyes sharpened into yellow, glowed into orange, and the changes were blurring into one another. Roxas clutched his head, but his eyes remained fixed on the rapidly transforming figure, retinas aching at the multitude of flashing colors. Orange, blue, green, blue again, grey, yellow, but black, predominantly black.

And one color suddenly jumped out at him, a shade achingly familiar by now. "Axel," he mouthed.

Poisonous green flashed and stayed and so did bleeding spikes of hair and pale skin, abnormally stilted and stretched figure. _Axel_ grinned at him. Roxas frowned because for the third time since entering this blank blank place, he was unnerved. Axel's grin was slightly distracted, definitely not a smirk, and was that misery he saw? The redhead, unaware of the confusion he was wreaking in the boy, turned his entire body to face Roxas, hips swaying with his unnaturally natural grace. His grin softened at the corners. So smiling now, a grave sad smile, his lips moved and Roxas heard the husky voice too intimately considering the literal distance between them.

"Don't worry; I'll save you, Roxy. Don't think I won't."

_Wait! Tell me what's going on._

-

Axel, in a miraculous change of habit, did not blink one eye hazily at the sudden light beyond his eyelids nor did he swear and throw the closest available item at it, but kept both eyes shut instead. The light burned at his retinas behind the fuzzy veil of his lids. His restraint was wasted when the iciness of the water dumped over him for the second time that weekend made him jump. Jump as much as he could, that is, with Roxas curled against him, and swear colorfully. He awoke completely with a snarl. "Damn it, Demyx! I'm gonna kill you! Got it memorized?"

"You two look so adorable!" was his only reply and he scowled, flicking the bird at the musician, before glancing to his side. Roxas had been shocked awake by the bucket of cold water as well and was glaring blearily at the shadowy figures in the doorway. It took him a moment to realize the doors were open and Axel had to smirk at the sudden transition from Roxas's do-you-have-a-death-wish grumpiness to oh-my-god-we're-saved shock.

"Oh my god. We're saved." Roxas's eyes were wide for a moment longer before a connection was made in his brain and they narrowed into annoyed slits. "Wait. You're Demyx, aren't you?"

"And you're Roxas, nice to meet you at last, how'd you do?" Demyx paused in his exuberance and took in the dangerous gleam in the smaller blond's eyes. He squeaked and hurriedly disappeared from the doorway, metal bucket he was carrying clanging loudly against the wall.

The elevator doors began sliding shut and both occupants sitting on the plush carpet lazily watched it do so. Eyes the color of envy and sorrow met and twin smiles curved beneath the respective orbs. Let them close.

And they did. Were. Until a pale hand caught the edge of one of the doors and the mechanism paused, then obediently slid open again. The reason Demyx had aborted his plan poked his head into view, indigo-tinted hair not quite obscuring the exasperation on Zexion's face. "Could you two continue your silent conversation outside? I need to drag this moron home."

"I'm not a moron!" came the retort from beyond the doors. Zexion's one visible eye rolled heavenwards but he said nothing else, gazing expectantly at Roxas and Axel.

"Aw, and here we were getting to be such good friends." For Zexion and Demyx's benefit, Axel's tone bordered on sarcasm, but the wink he tossed Roxas was not. Roxas acknowledged it with a twitch of the lips before pushing himself off the ground. He was not halfway up before the redhead beside him jumped up and extended a hand. Roxas stared at it, balanced precariously on one palm, and decided there was no harm in grasping the offered appendage firmly and pulling himself up. Axel held on a beat too long. "Guess I'll see you around then, Roxy?" A question in those green green eyes.

Roxas nodded and those eyes sparkled.

Zexion cleared his throat and Axel turned his head with a wicked smirk restored. "Zexy, they have tampons for that sort of thing, you know?" Ignoring the irate splutter, Axel tossed a mocking two-fingered salute and dragged a slightly resistant Roxas out of the elevator.

-

_Guess I'll see you around then, Roxy?_

_Yeah. I'll be waiting._


End file.
